Yotel, the budget hotel group inspired by the Japanese capsule hotel concept, is to open its first two properties at Heathrow and Gatwick airports by mid-2006.

Heathrow’s Terminal 4 will see a 40-cabin hotel and a 50-cabin site will be built in Gatwick’s South Terminal after leases were agreed with the operator British Airport Authorities (BAA).

Each Yotel cabin will feature a double rotating bed, techno walls, monsoon shower, pull-down desk, Wi-Fi access and a flatscreen television.

The rooms will have windows that look into corridors rather than providing views of the outside world. The 10.5sq m (113sq ft) cabins will be marketed as low-cost, luxury accommodation. Customers will be able to book the cabins in four-hour sections.

Yotel was created by Yo! Sushi’s founder Simon Woodroffe and chief executive Gerard Greene. A third London Yotel site is planned to open in 2007. Details: www.yotel.com

See also Leisure Management January/February 2006: Interview with Gerard Greene

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